Christian students gather for a morning prayer Monday in the Lincoln County High School library. A recent controversy over the role of prayer during the school's upcoming graduation has created a new focus on the First Amendment and the rights it bestows on students to express their beliefs.

For the first time in memory Lincoln County High School in Central Kentucky will not have a planned prayer as part of its graduation ceremony, after a six students, some who called themselves atheists, protested the move. That prompted a long, well-written story by Editor Ben Kleppinger for the local weekly paper, The Interior Journal, published by Schurz Communications. The school allows a planned prayer at graduation as long as the senior class votes unanimously in favor of it. (Kleppinger photo: Christian students gather for a morning prayer at the school.)

Students can still pray at graduation, but it can't be a scheduled part of the ceremony, Kleppinger reported. Principal Tom Godbey said, “I’ve tried to educate the students on the fact that the school will not remove a person’s constitutional right. It doesn’t matter if it’s the majority or the minority, we’re going to protect the rights of everyone.” (Read more)

In a column, Kleppinger noted that he is a Christian and said Christians should remember their roots. "Christianity did not form as a religion of the majority. It began with a small handful of rogues who did everything wrong by the world’s standards," he wrote. "The real power behind Christianity is not the rule of the majority; it is the quiet secret that passionate believers can change the world without being accepted."

He opined, "Your religion is not under attack just because your local school system is caring about the needs and desires of atheists, along with all students. You don’t need to fight anyone over anything related to prayer at graduation, because even if no one prays up front, you — and everyone else — can still pray before, during and after the ceremony without consequence. . . . American Christians are among the least persecuted Christians in the world. I think it’s time we acknowledged that and stopped pretending our religion is somehow being snuffed out every time someone with a differing viewpoint wants to feel accepted or normal." (Read more)

Louisa woman denied bond reduction, won't get to live

with boyfriend in Ohio...

Sarah listens closely as her attorney asks the court to allow he to live with her boyfriend instead of going to jail.LOUISA, Ky. -- A Louisa woman was in court Friday to allow the judge to rule on a motion to reduce her bond allow her to move out of state to live with her boyfriend.
 

Sarah Preece, 29 is accused of first degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful imprisonment.

According to the original indictment in March Preece committed the offense of robbery in the first degree when she stole allegedly stole a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero automobile and .38 caliber Smith & Wesson firearm used to threaten the immediate use of physical force while armed with a deadly weapon in an attempt to accomplish the theft.

The indictment also states that Preece tampered with physical evidence when, believing that an official proceeding is pending or maybe instituted,  destroyed and concealed removed or altered physical evidence which he/she believed was about to be produced reused in the official proceeding by concealing the weapon used with the intent to appear it's availability.

Preece also committed the offense of unlawful imprisonment in the second degree by knowingly and unlawfully restrained her mother, Mickey Preece by duct taping Mickey Preece to a chair.

Sarah Preece's father also asked the court through testimony for the court to allow her to go stay with her boyfriend and her mother.During her hearing, Preece' father Dallas Preece said he believed she would be better off out of jail and living in Gallipolis, Ohio with her boyfriend and his family.

Her boyfriend's mother, Alina Colwell also testified that she would allow Preece to stay with her but admitted to having Preece for just over a month.

Commonwealths Attorney Assistant Tony Skeans said he was not comfortable with lowering Preece's bond and allowing her to go out of state with the violent charges that are against her.

"She needs to stay in our reach," Skeans said.

Judge John David Preston agreed with the commonwealth's side and denied the motion that was made by Preece's lawyer Stephen Owens of Pikeville.

Pension reform bill set to save cities thousands;

The General Assembly came away from the 2013 regular session with a host of accomplishments, but the biggest for many lawmakers was Senate Bill 2, known as the pension reform bill.

SB 2 changed the current public employee pension system from a defined-benefit plan to a hybrid plan, in which the employee and the employer both contribute funds. The bill put a stop to the state’s ballooning $33-billion pension shortfall.

But while SB 2 saves the state’s pension fund from getting any bigger, it also saves cities in Kentucky {including Louisa} from having to pay their employees the same benefits they had in the past. And according to data from the Kentucky League of Cities, the pension reform could save Hopkinsville approximately $28.4 million by 2032.

SB 2 will only apply to employees hired after Jan. 1, 2014, but the savings have already been accounted for in Mayor Dan Kemp’s proposed budget. At his annual budget address May 3, Kemp said the city will save about $177,339 in fiscal year 2013-14 due to pension reform.

Joseph Coleman, the research and federal relations manager for KLC, said people have mischaracterized the new plan as a hybrid of a defined-benefit plan and a 401(k) plan.

“It’s not really,” he said. “It sort of smells like one, but it’s still a defined-cash balance plan.”

Under the old law, the government employer funded an employee’s pension account based on a formula multiplying average compensation, years of service, and benefits. Under SB 2, the employee contributes some of his or her pay.

Hazardous employees — police officers and firefighters — will contribute 8 percent of their pay to their pension accounts, and the government employer will match them 7.5 percent. Non-hazardous employees contribute 5 percent of their pay into their pension accounts, while the government employer matches them 4 percent. Additionally, the government guarantees the growth of an employee’s pension account.

“From year to year, those accounts are guaranteed to grow by 4 percent,” Coleman said.

This hybrid plan gives cities across Kentucky some much-needed relief. According to projection data compiled by KLC, counties and municipalities are contributing 12.62 percent to their employees’ pension funds this year. Without SB 2, that rate will have grown to 21.32 percent. With the bill, the rate is projected to hold steady at 12.72 percent.

Melissa Spurr, city budget officer and interim city administrative officer, said it’s been a relief for Hopkinsville, as she has helped put the city’s proposed budget together.

“The retirement pension rates just kept getting higher and higher, and it was becoming a struggle for all cities,” she said.

By Carla Jimenez
Kentucky New Era